Irish general election, 1972

The Irish general election, 1972 was held on 7 February 1972. The people of Ireland elected a new Dail Eireann, and Fianna Fail won its fourth consecutive election in yet another landslide.

History
Following the end of World War II, Fianna Fail emerged as the party of economic liberalism and democracy, repealing Fine Gael's repressive censorship laws and implementing universal suffrage. It held power from 1950 to 1957, and again from 1961 onwards; it won a snap election in 1967 and increased its share of the vote nationwide. On 4 July 1970, Fianna Fail legalized open immigration, a popular reform among Ireland's ethnic minorities. The party was again in good standing when the time came to hold elections in 1972.

Fianna Fail started off in a dominant position, as it had won over every county in landslides in every election since 1961. The Irish Labor Party was once again the main challenger to Fianna Fail, but Fianna Fail ruled over what was, in effect, a one-party system, as it always held a supermajority after each election. The surge of conservatism at the time of the election did little to help the weak Fine Gael party, which was again relegated to the sidelines as the Labor Party provided the main opposition to Fianna Fail; many Irish voters believed that socialism, not conservatism, was the only way to end Fianna Fail's controversial economic liberalism and its spending cuts.

The election was another resounding victory for Fianna Fail, which won with over 1% more votes than in last year's election. The Labor Party lost a negligible amount of voters, while Fine Gael lost almost 1% of its support base. Fianna Fail continued to dominate Irish politics after the election, which came a year after the tenth consecutive year of Fianna Fail rule.

Results

 * Fianna Fail glyph.png Fianna Fail - 61.72%
 * Irish Labor Party glyph.png Irish Labor Party - 18.91%
 * Fine Gael glyph.png Fine Gael - 11.13%
 * Sinn Fein logo.jpg Sinn Fein - 8.22%